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'Homeless,' signs say. 'Scam!' many cry

Panhandlers on the corners, skepticism on the rise

By Rick Sobey , rsobey@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/17/2016 07:03:00 AM EDT

A FAMILIAR PRESENCE: A panhandler waves to motorists Friday morning while holding a sign at the Lord Overpass, a popular spot in Lowell for those seeking handouts. An increase in panhandling has left city leaders frustrated. SUN / JOHN LOVE

Panhandling has proliferated in Lowell and suburbia. So has the skepticism.

Some say those holding "Homeless" signs are not homeless. A "Struggling Mother" or "Struggling Father" is anything but.

Ask Emily LaFave, who encourages customers, friends and family to not give money to panhandlers at the Tyngsboro-Nashua line.

LaFave says the panhandlers at the Route 3 exit, across from the Pheasant Lane Mall, frequently enter the Cumberland Farms store and gas station where she works.

They buy cigarettes and beer. They throw their used needles into the store's trash can, she adds.

"They brag about how much money they made during the day," LaFave says. "They'll say they're making more money out there than we are in here.

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"It just makes me so angry that people are giving them money and they don't appreciate it at all," added LaFave.

On the Tyngsboro-Nashua line, Al, 39, holds a sign saying he's a struggling father of two and needs money for food. Al, who declined to give his last name, says there's plenty of skeptical people out there.

CAN'T MISS THEM: A man holds a cardboard sign by the exit from the Target plaza parking lot on Plain Street in Lowell on Thursday. The busy stretch of road, by an exit from the Lowell Connector, is especially popular with panhandlers. SUN / JULIA MALAKIE

Al says he'd rather work than stand at the intersection for eight hours a day. He says he's done landscaping, built retaining walls and painted. Al says he's filled out applications at fast-food restaurants. No one's called him back.

"I hope to get some construction work when the weather gets better," Al says. "They're about to shut off the electric at home."

Then there's Jerry Parker off Route 38 in Tewksbury, asking for money at the Home Depot intersection. He holds a sign stating that he's homeless, and needs food and employment.

Parker, 47, says he hears the same lines from time to time -- "Get a job, drug addict" -- but he just goes on and ignores what some people say.

A panhandler greets motorists as they wait to turn off the ramp from the Lowell Connector onto Plain Street in Lowell on Friday morning. SUN / JOHN LOVE

"I'm just surviving every day out here," says Parker, who has a scraggly beard and is missing teeth. Parker says he eats meals at Burger King and other fast-food chains. Some people offer him work, such as landscaping jobs, he adds.

Other panhandlers in the area can be found at the Lord Overpass in Lowell, throughout downtown intersections and sidewalks, and at the Drum Hill rotary in Chelmsford.

Struggle for a city

There's been a noticeable rise in the number of panhandlers in the area since October. A federal judge struck down Lowell's ban on panhandling in the downtown, saying it's protected under the First Amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and Goodwin Proctor LLC, representing the panhandlers, considered it a victory for free speech, while city officials called it a disappointment.

Solicitations of money by organized charities are within the protection of the First Amendment, according to U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock. Panhandlers "may communicate important political or social messages in their appeals for money, explaining their conditions related to veteran status, homelessness, unemployment and disability, to name a few," he wrote.

The city had amended its general panhandling ordinance to ban "aggressive panhandling," which involves following and accosting people. Police observing anyone aggressively panhandling in the Downtown Historic District could arrest them. Upon conviction, each offense can be punishable by a $50 fine.

The city argued that its prohibitions on aggressive panhandling in the downtown were, in part, a matter of public safety, to protect residents against a "raucous alternative culture" that is both "festive and sinister" engaged in a "war on the public sentiment."

Lowell Police Superintendent William Taylor says panhandlers have a constitutional right to be asking for money, but the public has valid concerns.

"People voice concerns to us all the time about where do the funds go to," Taylor says. "Possibly to addiction, which is not productive. But it's hard to really make conclusions without more analysis."

The department's focus now is making sure panhandlers are not impeding traffic and aggressively bothering motorists.

Taylor says other communities have launched public-education campaigns, telling residents to donate to local service groups instead. This campaign is a possibility for the city, Taylor says.

"Dealing with panhandlers is certainly not unique to just Lowell," he says. "Many communities nationally are struggling with an appropriate way to deal with it."

The city will be setting up security cameras to monitor panhandlers, and enforce nuisance ordinances including littering, harassment and blocking a public way, says City Manager Kevin Murphy.

"We have other means at our disposal other than outright banning it," Murphy says.

"Whenever we see a homeless person, we try to direct them to services available in the city," he adds.

Last Tuesday night, the City Council voted to create a committee of elected officials, police, nonprofit representatives and others to address the issue.

City Councilor Rodney Elliott says he's been noticing more panhandlers in the city.

"There is, without question, an element of skepticism out there that these people are in fact homeless or taking advantage of this ruling," Elliott says.

Kevin Martin, an attorney at Goodwin Proctor, says he's heard the "scam" argument about panhandlers before. However, the First Amendment allows for anyone to go out and ask for charity, he stressed.

"There's no means testing," Martin says. "It's their right to free speech.

"I have a hard time imagining that people earning a successful living would choose to ask strangers for money in the cold," he added. "This is a last-ditch effort for someone who can't find employment."

For instance, a man holding a "Homeless" sign at the Plain Street shopping center stresses that he sleeps in a tent, and needs money for food, water, socks, underwear and shoes. He says there was "no way" he was giving The Sun his name.

After about 90 minutes, he says he takes a coffee break and then returns for another 90 minutes.

"They (drivers) either give you something, ignore you, or yell something at you," he says.

"There are quite a few good people, more than you would expect, believe it or not," he adds.

It's a 38-degree day in February, and the drizzle outside quickly turns into a downpour. It'd probably be a good time for an early coffee break.

But he stays outside, remaining at the island at the intersection.

It may be because it started raining heavily, but no one driving by was saying anything derogatory.

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